Magic Trick Born in Harper Class Goes Global

A Harper College course that challenges its students to reinvent used items has spawned
a magic trick that's gone global.

The trick, which gives new life to a faux butterfly, is the brainchild of Mark Presley
Hawkins, a Harper employee who teaches magic courses through Harper's Continuing Education
Department and performs professionally throughout the suburbs.

Presley Hawkins enrolled in the Creative Artistic Inventions class simply to try something
new. The goal took on wings of its own when he concocted the trick from a series of
discarded items, creating an illusion of an animated butterfly mystically emerging
from the palm of your hand and fluttering about - disappearing and reappearing at
will without the use of any strings.

The "Butterfly in a Box" trick has been picked up by internet retailers, who sold
out of 400 of the tricks within days, and garnered positive reviews from magicians
across the world.

"Butterflies are very mysterious insects, and I think the appeal is in seeing something
so intrinsic to nature - and uncommon in magic - controlled by a performer," says
Presley Hawkins, who is crafting each edition of the trick by hand. "I had the general
idea in mind for a while, but the class really made me think through it and helped
me develop it into the success it is today."

Harper will offer another section of the Creative Artistic Inventions class on Thursday
evenings this spring, beginning March 14. Presley Hawkins also will head up his own
class, "The Magic Workshop," targeting magicians who are looking to improve their
presentation skills and stage presence. The class will run on Wednesday evenings,
April 3 to May 8.